I played Soul Calibur 2 in Very Hard and didn't have this issue... But since we want to talk about fighting games, I'll tell you a very good example within Dragon Ball FighterZ. That game's Arcade mode gets progressively harder and harder depending on your ranking. However, at one point, the CPU starts to get some unfair assistance. For example, the damage output is 3X what you do. Not only that, but the CPU also tends to gain meter faster and also cancel moves in a way that is simply not possible with human players (AKA they do combos characters are not meant to even do at this point).
Ghosts N' Goblins... MAN, that game has evoked so much rage in me when I got to it. The game is lenient in the whole "you only get 2 hits (Losing your armor and then dying like a wimp). Not only that, but you do stay the same while enemies get stronger. Not only that, but the final level in this piece of trash DEMANDS you have the shield weapon in order to get to the final boss of the game. Otherwise, it tells you to "FUCK OFF GET THE SHIELD"
I honestly think that games can be made difficult but peoplesometimes just think that difficulty is added by stacking everything against the player. That's not really how it's done.